Monday, April 30, 2012

I’ve been
thinking about this whole ebook revolution for quite some time now,
particularly since I started reading a paperback book I received last
Christmas. It was easy to pick up my book from the stack I carefully piled
on the corner of my dresser, until I could get to them. Somehow, I don’t think
I’d be as excited about sorting through files on my computer or ebook reader,
while trying to remember which ebooks I had in my priority reading stash.

Yes, I’m one
of those…

I really do
pile books and place them in strategic bundles to remind me I need to read them
some day. And yes, eventually I end up reading every last book in the stack too.

My computer
is a bit of a different story. As my desktop gets crowded, I tend to file
things away…this includes sending as much as I can to the round file.

Old ebooks
remind me of old magazines for some reason. There are more than enough being
published every single day, many with the same or similar topics and themes.
How many ebooks does one really need to keep on file anyway?

Books on the
other hand, real books that you actually hold in your hands to read, flip
through the pages, leaving orange Cheetos marks on their corners, inhaling the
delightful aroma of ink on recycled paper and using them in place of a coaster
when none can be found…these are the essence of what faithful readers desire
and keep forever. They will never be doomed to the life of just another file on
just another outdated computer that needs to upgrade its software yet again.

The World
Wide Web is a visually stimulating place where interaction occurs because
webmasters take the time to make their product appealing to their visitors. One
of the reasons many web page designers attract visitors is because their pages
include pictures and other images that provide a place for the eye to land,
upon reaching the destination of the page.

Consider why
people are surfing the web. It’s not to waste time, though many will probably
admit to spending way too much time on the Internet. People search for
information; they want to know immediately if the page they land on will give
them what they seek. Is there any better way than to have a picture staring
them in the face, with an image that draws them further into the page, offering
an opportunity to read a well-written article, which has been presented
thoroughly and professionally?

Pictures
enhance websites in other ways too. Each image has its own story to tell and
stands alone. This triggers energy in the brain of the person seeing it,
relaying a vast realm of messages to its recipient. Including pictures in web
pages isn’t some willy-nilly, last minute, hasty decision. It is part of the overall
integral design that creates an ambience and helps determine whether or not
visitors will return. Chances are, if they’re not impressed with the images
viewed the first time they enter a site, they won’t bother reading what’s on
the page, let alone returning to see if there’s anything new worth considering.

Sunday, April 29, 2012

I decided
quite some time ago I needed to take the path of least resistance in my life. I’ve
considered myself a writer for as long as I can remember, yet somehow this
didn’t affect my choices early on, when it came to writing on the Internet. I
hemmed, hawed and backed myself into corners, when clearly I was in a room
without them.

Writing
sites worked to get my feet wet with Internet writing. I’ll give them that. But
that’s all I will give them. They taught me to cut and paste, format and even
learn a little html for the sake of sanity. I noticed those html skills came in
handy today when I was updating this blog. You wouldn’t believe how much I didn’t
know I already knew!

Getting back
on track now…

Perhaps that’s
why I chose to update my crochet blog first. Oh, did I mention I’m on a mission
to revive my old blogs, and take that path of least resistance I discussed in
the opening paragraph of this post? Crochet and blogging are fun. It’s why I
started that blog in the first place…to have fun with crochet and writing
simultaneously. Sharing what I already love to do is one way of taking the path
of least resistance.

Somewhere
along the line, I got all bunged up and serious about writing. Spent too much
time on writing forums, I suppose. Listened to too much negativity on writing
mill sites – you know the ones…they tell you how you’re going to increase
traffic to all your work, but what they don’t tell you is that in doing so, you’re
going to increase traffic to their site and fight for a place on the front
page!

RUN, DON’T
WALK, AWAY!!!

This is the
Internet, and any site that tells you to follow their specific formula for
success to get yourself noticed, isn’t telling you how to become a star, but
asking you to help them improve their own Google Page Rank!

The path of
least resistance is the one you feel most comfortable taking. For me, it’s
being true to myself, not taking myself too seriously and when money is
involved, making sure I’m happy with the entire situation. I won’t grovel for
assignments. I won’t accept pennies for articles and I will walk away from a
bad deal. If I didn’t, writing would quickly take the path of burnout, block
and all those terms we use to express writers being unable to write. There’s a
reason for it, and it’s not because we simply don’t have anything else to say!

That’s all I
can reasonably say about writing, writer’s block, blogging, CHANGE!!!!

Ah, yes, the
dreaded word that forces us to live outside of our comfort zone, if only for a
moment in time. That’s one thing the Internet is famous for…a constant state of
change, and if you’re not prepared to deal with it, you’re likely to get swept
away in the undertow – completely forgotten, misplaced only to land on some
distant shore…another planet perhaps, a faint familiarity that serves only to
remind you that as much as you love the Internet, you’re not too fond of always
having to get used to it.

It’s
certainly not like riding a bike now, is it? I mean, just when you think you
know what you’re doing, someone has a better idea of how everyone else should
be doing things on the web. The BIG GUYS >>>>you know who I’m
talking about>>>>GOOGLE, FACEBOOK , TWITTER – and now PINTEREST
too!!! They’ve gone and decided change
is all the rage…you’re raging, aren’t you? It’s okay, you can be honest about
it. I won’t tell anyone….

Well, I hate
to break it to you, but this blog is changing too...

I’m giving
it the once over, following more blogs that share writing expertise than I care
to think about and deciding that no one can teach anyone else how to write!

What I can
do is share anything writing related in this blog.

Writers
write. That’s all there is to it. Some follow all the rules and become quite
successful. Others break all the rules and end up on the New York Times Best
Seller List. Go figure! The Internet…that’s a completely different ballgame!
Article writing, writing for clients, niche writing, blogging...

Writers
share! That’s better. We write, read, comment, market, pitch…we are masters of
outreach and we’re very good at using our words to do it too!

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About Me

I'm a free spirit, filled with creative energy! I enjoy doing many things, including gardening, sports, crafts, cooking, to name a few. For relaxation, I prefer to hang by a water source like the ocean, a river or lake, something like that. I also really enjoy getting lost in a good book, and of course, writing...sometimes nonstop...

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